26 councillors in study trip

26 councillors in study trip

JAKARTA: Twenty-six councillors have embarked on a three-day
study trip to three provinces in connection with the regulations
for gubernatorial elections starting on Wednesday, despite the
fact that the controversy over their foreign trip is not yet
over.

Of the 26, six have been to Bangka-Belitung province, 11 to
Gorontalo province and the remaining 11 to North Sulawesi.

City Council chairman Edy Waluyo said the trip was aimed at
studying the election regulations in the provinces, which had
just held elections.

"The election will be the first for Jakarta that is run
differently from previous ones," he said Thursday.

Councillor Syamsidar Siregar revealed the participants were
given only one ticket each and would stay in a hotel, saying that
the trip was financed by the city budget.

"It's not much," said Syamsidar, who declined to reveal the
amount of money allocated for the trip.

Two years ago, dozens of city officials and councillors
participated in a trip to Australia, Japan and South Africa.
Three councillors were recently identified as suspects as they
were paid allowances for the trip, even though they did not
participate in it. -- JP